shari'a

noun

"shari-a" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“shari'a” is uncommon English (frequency #73,628 among 6,566 “S” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#73,628
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A body of religious law forming a part of the Islamic tradition based on the scriptures of Islam, particularly the Qur'an and hadith.

Corpus desk

Index EN-shari-a · shari'a · English

shari'a · rank #73,628 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #73,628
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH shareef

Nearest frequency peer: shareef (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “shari'a”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “shari'a” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for shari'a
PropertyValue
Headwordshari'a
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters7
Frequency rank#73,628
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “shari'a” in English

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).shari'afalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “shareef” (#73,627), “shareable” (#73,626), “shipowner” (#73,632). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “shari'a” is #73,628. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

shari'a is uncommon English at frequency #73,628 among 6,566 “S” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A body of religious law forming a part of the Islamic tradition based on the scriptures of Islam, particularly the Qur'an and hadith.".

Zero misspellings are on record for shari'a in our index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Arabic شَرِيعَة (šarīʕa, literally “path, way”). The correct English form is shari'a, spelled S-H-A-R-I-'-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    A body of religious law forming a part of the Islamic tradition based on the scriptures of Islam, particularly the Qur'an and hadith.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how shari'a appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. The legislation of shari'a here is very strict.

Etymology

From Arabic شَرِيعَة (šarīʕa, literally “path, way”).

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "shari'a"?
"shari'a" is spelled S-H-A-R-I-'-A.
What does "shari'a" mean?
As a noun, "shari'a" means: A body of religious law forming a part of the Islamic tradition based on the scriptures of Islam, particularly the Qur'an and hadith.
What is the origin of the word "shari'a"?
From Arabic شَرِيعَة (šarīʕa, literally “path, way”). See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "shari'a", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list